Apple to manufacture iPhone 6S Plus in India, make it cheaper

By setting up a local factory, Apple aims to slash Indian iPhone prices, as a response to government policies that tax foreign phones.

The iPhone SE may soon be joined by the iPhone 6S Plus in India, as Apple is reportedly going to begin trial production of the latter in the country. India's government raised tariffs on smartphones from 15 to 20 percent in February, forcing Apple to seek new measures to drop its prices and stay competitive.

The iPhone 6s Plus being produced locally will reduce the price for consumers by 5-7 percent, making it an attractive prospect for those that want performance, extended software support and pretty much any other thing that you would want in a device without spending ludicrous amounts of money. This will also allow the iPhone to fall in the same price segment as a OnePlus phone or some Samsung phones. As per the report, Apple has already begun trial production of the iPhone 6S Plus at the Wistron facility in Bengaluru. It has set up a new assembly for the production of iPhone 6s Plus. With increased local production, the prices will eventually get corrected, a source revealed to the publication. Apple has also started discussing with its vendors and contract manufacturers like Flex, Foxconn and Wistron to expand sourcing in India. Meanwhile, Apple has joined their hands with the local partners in India, including chargers, adapters and box packaging.

During the declaration of the Union Budget for the year, the government imposed a ten percent customs duty hike on components like printed circuit boards populated with memory and chips, camera modules and connectors. In total, there are five sourcing plants which includes Finland-based Salcomp's facility in Tamil Nadu and Chinabased Shenzhen YUTO Packaging Technology plant in Bengaluru. However, this may not happen immediately since Wistron won't be able to fully meet the requirements for the iPhone 6S Plus straight out of the gate.